At the 2017 CDN Ebreichsdorf on 10 - 12 February 2017 a blood incident took place which caused quite some upheaval in the German and Austria media as the Austrian national dressage rules apparently leave room for interpretation when it comes to a horse bleeding.
Peter Gmoser presented Marianne Jerich's 14-year old Ehrengold MJ (by Ehrentusch x Rohdiamant) at the CDN Ebreichsdorf. On Friday and Sunday he twice withdrew the horse in the warm up because of tongue and mouth issues. However in the Grand Prix in Saturday he started but got eliminated after the test during the tack check as the horse bled from its mouth.
Gmoser disputed the elimination based on the fact that the Austrian national dressage rules do not stipulate elimination in case of blood. According to Dressur Aktuell, the Austrian rules only refer to a case of "responsible management/behaviour towards the horse" which does not include cases of blood.
The show organisation overruled the elimination and Gmoser ended up winning the Grand Prix with 68,033%.
Sissy Max-Theurer, president of the Austrian Equestrian Federation, told Eurodressage that "it is not true that there is no rule against blood in Austria. It was a mistake of the judge that he cancelled the disqualification. At the moment the persons involved are being questioned by the Austrian FN."
Max-Theurer further explained the situation. "Peter Gmoser's horse probably bit himself while going from the arena to the warm up. Of course every bleeding horse is and will always be eliminated, either when it happens in the warm up or in the show ring. Also riders can be disqualified when they ride with a raised whip. The misunderstanding arose because tack checks are not carried out at national shows. In this case there was a steward on the scene and he checked. A discussion arose there and the judge made a mistake. He shouldn't have canceled the elimination. There is no rule to make checks after a ride mandatory in national tests. However, every horse can be checked by a judge or show vet at any time. When the national rules are formulated vaguely, the FEI rules come in place."
Related Links
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New Blood Rule Approved at 2012 FEI General Asssembly
Dressage to Become a Blood Sport?!